New evidence sheds light on the extinction of (non-avian) dinosaurs. Astronomer Phil Plait takes a look at a so-called "rogue planet." And history remembers the "rocket girls," women who worked on NASA's early rocketry programs and forged the way to space travel. It's Earthy Thursday, our weekly segment on science and Earth-related news! All this and more for the Pagan News Beagle!

The dinosaurs were killed by an asteroid right? Actually, it may be more complicated than just that. On top of evidence that volcanoes may also have played a role in the massive extinction event at the end of the Cretaceous, it turns out that dinosaurs may have been on the decline well-before either catastrophe.

The future of agriculture may be at sea, not on land. Yes! Magazine takes a look at how so-called "ocean farmers" are hoping to revolutionize the way we grow our food and feed the world.

By most definitions a planet is an object that orbits a star. But not all planemos or "planetary mass objects" do. Astronomer Phil Plait shines a light on the example of one planemo, about 150 light years away, that wanders space without a star to orbit.

It seems the coal resurgence may be over. In news that may please environmentalists and those concerned by the threat of global warming, declining demand for coal as shale oil becomes cheaper and renewable energy gains steam have pushed many coal companies into bankruptcy, such as Peabody Energy.

When we talk about the people who made human space exploration possible we tend to think of men like Robert Goddard or Werner van Braun. But there were many women involved in the early years of rocketry as well. Science and technology website Gizmodo interviews author Nathalia Holt about the so-called "rocket girls."


Top image by Thomas Bjørkan